ajbutowicz

I do alot of reading on the forum, and I'm getting mixed messages.

I have a 91' camaro RS with the 305 TBI. 170 HP from a V8 is disgraceful... I don't want to see my *** kicked by a *****....

So my question is, where should I start with my mods? I have roughly 200 dollars, and I have already installed a open element air filter. I want everyone's opinion on what mods will give me the most bang for the buck, increasing my HP/torque the best it can. Thanks for all your opinions guys.

Sidenote: Without doing the heads/cam, does the edelbrock intake help any? Do other intakes work as well as they should with an adapter plate? Thanks.

pecha

the best bang for a buck = nitrous

Stekman

All chemicals aside, have you done a full exhaust? Headers, catback, the works?

DuronClocker

iTrader: (1)

It has been said that just a 3" catback alone will give those cars near 20HP. Headers would help even more. There's also some free "Ultimate TBI" mods you can do that are listed in the Technical Articles on this site.

FLYNLOW92rs

iTrader: (53)

SAVE THE MONEY until you can afford a new engine, If your only goal is to beat some ricers, then have at the LO3, but that $200 would be better spent on a new 350 block........

But to stay on topic, full exhaust is a must......

DuronClocker

iTrader: (1)

Well, even to drop a 350 in that car, the exhaust will hold it back HORRIBLY. So my thing would be to get the exhaust done, notice a nice big difference, and then when you get sick of that, save a couple hundred bucks and buy a 350.

RB83L69

$200 is not enough. I'd suggest saving up until you have enough money to put headers and exhaust on it. You need to replace THE WHOLE exhaust, all the way from the heads to the street, all at once, with the setup FOR SOME OTHER MOTOR BESIDES THE L03. I'd suggest getting the stuff for a 350 TPI. Reason being, any piece you get that will bolt to any piece you already have, will preserve the bottleneck, and therefore void any benefit of spending any money at all. So since you can't replace it one piece at a time, it needs to be one big wholesale swap.

I'd suggest a set of good-quality chassis-specific headers (NOT "universal"), such as Edelbrock TES or SLP; a Catco or CarSound or similar high-flow cat; and any of the dozens of suitable exhausts from Dynomax, Hooker, Edelbrock, Blowmaster, Borla, SLP, etc. etc. etc.

ajbutowicz

Thanks guys. If I had my way, I would just drop a new engine in it, but my dad veto'ed that one right away. So I get to work with the LO3. Even though its my money for the mods/upkeep, it was his for the car, so he still has a opinion on it, which is fine by me.

ajbutowicz

With the ehaust, how much HP does the edelbrock TBI intake usually add.

RB83L69

Very little. The Edelbrock TBI intake is a waste. There's better ways to get more results.

The way to mod a car is NOT to let a little money burn a hole in your pocket, and go out and spend it all on some big shiny piece to put right up on top of the motor where everybody can see it. That doesn't work.

The right way, is to identify what part of the car is the limiting factor to its performance, and go to work on it. Once you've done a suitable upgrade or mod or replacement or whatever to the most limiting part, and it's no longer the limit, identify the next part that is now the car's limit, and improve that. Repeat the process until you're satisfied, or run out of money, or are maxed out in your class, or whatever.

Note I said CAR, not MOTOR: often, the thing that is the limit to the car's speed, isn't the engine at all (how much power you make), but rather how well the CAR puts it to use.

As far as the engine: exhaust first. The next thing is the cam, and after that, the heads. Tackle it one piece at a time. There's 75 HP easy in those 3 upgrades, maybe more.

Once you get the power output up to where it can be, you'll want gears; a torque converter; and shortly after that, some suspension mods, so you can hook all this up to the pavement.

An intake manifold is a LONG way off, as far as making any singificant improvement to the car.

Stekman

Since you are limited to TBI, here's another thing to look at:

<A HREF="https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/ultimatetbi.shtml">Ultimate TBI mods 1</A>
<A HREF="https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/ultimatetbi2.shtml">Ultimate TBI mods 2</A>